“In order to tell the truth, you need to invent what might be missing from the archive, to collapse time . . . to formally move things around in a way that reveals something more true than fact.”
Simone Leigh (b. 1967) is an American artist whose work focuses on explorations of community, Black feminism, and the traditions and material culture of the African diaspora. Over the past two decades, Leigh has created artwork that situates questions of Black femme-identified subjectivity at the center of contemporary artistic discourse. Her sculpture, video, installation, and social practice explore ideas of race, beauty, and community in visual and material culture. Leigh often draws her concepts and inspirations from anthropological, historical, and colonial archives that represent stereotypical views of black women through a European lens. She creates new forms incorporating her research on these archives with African aesthetics and Black feminist concepts.
In 2022, Leigh was the first black woman to represent the United States in the Venice Biennale.
Image 1: A large head sculpture that is work-in-progress in her studio
Image 2: Untitled, 2022, stoneware
Image 3: Brick House, 2019, bronze
Image 4: Last Garment, detail, 2022, bronze, steel, metal, filtration water pump, water
Simone Leigh Edited by Eva Respini. Boston : Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston ; New York : DelMonico Books, [2023] HOLLIS number: 99157252441903941
